Shamanism Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow
Leonardo Ambasciano
Journal of Cognitive Historiography January 6, 2022 DOI: 10.1558/jch.21151 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Review Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Topics | Shamanism |
| Key findings | The field of shamanic studies requires integration of neurocognitive and historical perspectives to avoid monopolization by paranormal and postmodern approaches. |
Abstract
The present contribution offers a descriptive account of two recent books concerning shamanism, Homayun Sidky’s The Origins of Shamanism, Spirit Beliefs, and Religiosity: A Cognitive Anthropological Perspective (2017) and Sergio Botta’s Dagli sciamani allo sciamanesimo. Discorsi, credenze, pratiche (2018). The commentary starts by supplying a brief historical contextualization of the subfield of shamanic studies in both Anthropology and the History of Religions, highlighting the main trends and widespread approaches. Sidky’s neurocognitive account and Botta’s poststructural historiographical walk-through are then taken into consideration and reviewed. The conclusions under-score the need for an integration between these two perspectives and urge cognitive historians to collaborate with like-minded anthropologists in order to further the study of shamanism and prevent the subfield from becoming de novo monopolized by paranormal and postmodern anthropology.
Comparable studies
Other narrative reviews on shamanism, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hallucinogenic Drugs and Plants in Psychotherapy and Shamanism | 1998 | Review | |
| Hallucinogenic Mushrooms in Mexico: An Overview | 2008 | Review | |
| Healing, spirituality and integrative medicine. | 2017 | Review | |
| Introduction: Evidence for entheogen use in prehistory and world religions | 2019 | Review | |
| The Evolved Psychology of Psychedelic Set and Setting: Inferences Regarding the Roles of Shamanism and Entheogenic Ecopsychology | 2021 | Review |